ABSTRACT
From the earliest days of Christianity until the close of the medieval epoch, the bishop was a central figure in the organization of the first Christian communities and then of the institutional church. The first liturgico-canonical codifications from before the fifth century insist not only on the bishop’s role in the life of these first communities, but also on the importance of his liturgical prerogatives. The codification of rituals, essential for the history of the Christian liturgy, would fix in substantial measure episcopal liturgical practices, thereby facilitating the solid anchoring of the bishop in social organization. In antiquity and at the beginning of the early Middle Ages, the bishop ruled over a diocese at the heart of which parishes, headed by priests, progressively took shape. The bishop’s dominant position within his see, institutional by nature, was expressed notably by his hold over liturgical practices and his imprint on its spaces. For example, from the fifth century, the city of Rome saw a form of territorial organization essentially dominated by the search for the unity of the Christian community around the bishop’s person. This model remained vital for several centuries in the Eternal City and exercised a considerable influence over a good number of episcopal sees in western Europe throughout the Middle Ages. Michelle Gaillard has recently called attention to the attempts of bishops in Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages to reinforce the idea that the Christian community was centered on their person, with reference to four documents: the calendar of Perpetuus of Tours transmitted by Gregory of Tours; the liturgical guidelines of Bishops Aunarius and Tetricus of Auxerre; the famous list of stational celebrations of the churches of Metz; and the list of the churches of Clermont mentioning each one’s altars and relics.3
